


The Incident With The Rabbits From The Moon

by SecondStarfall (beantiger)



Series: The Second Starfall Stories [28]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Advice, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fantasy, Flash Fic, Flowers, Gen, Medieval, Microfic, Moon, Original Character(s), Originally Posted Elsewhere, Rabbits, Royalty, Talking Animals, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beantiger/pseuds/SecondStarfall
Summary: “My wife visits me from the moon but twice a season: once for mating, and once to give birth. And you dishonor even that! Greedy forever-men, with your long years. Kill us if you must, but your queen will hear of it. And then what of your tulips?”***Strange, strange rabbits invade a tulip farm.
Series: The Second Starfall Stories [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582975
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Incident With The Rabbits From The Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This is a version of the original Twitterfic, same title, posted over at my now-deactivated personal account in February 2020. It has been given minor edits for consistency with other stories and readability on AO3. ❤️ 
> 
> **RECOMMENDED RE-READING:** Galien is the future husband of Queen Alexandrine [("Dragon, Dragonfly")](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22056346) though this takes place long before that, as you'll see.
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨

Tulip-farming was not such an easy task. The farmer and his mother always had to grapple with blight, or root-rot, or a hungry doe wandering onto the property. And during this particular incident, the tulip-farmer dealt with rabbits from the moon.

(His mother, in her own way, helped.)

***

The farmer—whose name was Galien Tarrou—had stepped outside after breakfast to check on the fieldhands, only to find them staring at their boots, motionless. Thinking that they must have lost their minds, Galien approached the fields.

A massive rabbit, taller than himself, shook a bejeweled spear at him. 

“You will not disturb the Empress,” said the rabbit. It had dappled fur, copper and white, and it glittered. “This litter we intend to live, forever-man."

Feminine wailing rose up from somewhere within the tulips.

Galien had not dealt with many talking animals before. He preferred not to, in case he had to set the dogs on them. However… 

Well, if the rabbits had an Empress, then Galien assumed that the rabbit towering over him was the Emperor.

“I would suggest,” he said, “that you all not use my farm as a birthing-room—”

The Emperor glared down at Galien. 

“My wife visits me from the moon but twice a season: once for mating, and once to give birth. And you dishonor even that! Greedy forever-men, with your long years. Kill us if you must, but your queen will hear of it. And then what of your tulips?” 

Galien growled and returned to his kitchen. He found his mother adjusting her spectacles as she looked out the window.

“Oh, the rabbits again,” she said with a sigh. “Your father, bless his heart, went to the regent about them, before you were born." 

“I know.”

"He'd hoped he could petition against the law...or find someone to root them out, all quiet-like. Bless his heart.”

"Yes."

His mother returned to the stove-top. Galien's father had never come back from his righteous journey. 

“You ought to charm the queen,” his mother added. “She's looking for a husband, you know. And you _are_ such a good-looking boy.”

Levity re-entered the room.

“Ha!" Galien grinned. "Imagine: this farm as royal property. We'd never have to worry about a bad season again.” 

“We have rabbits from the moon: do you truly think it's so far out of mind that you could marry a queen?”

***

So:

A few seasons later, the tulip-farmer indeed set out to petition the queen. His mother wept for him at the door, as mothers do, but knew she had to let him go. 

And—

Ah. You know what happens next, dear reader.

We all do.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or a kudos or whatever the heck if this tickled your fancy. There shall be more! ❤️ Also, please let me know what other characters, relationships, or places you'd like to hear about. I have lots of ideas, but I'd enjoy writing a few stories for y'all as well.
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY:** I'm suspicious of any fantasy world that doesn't have creatures on its moon, at least allegedly.


End file.
